


Tears in Snow

by StellarStylus



Category: Blade Runner (Movies)
Genre: Death Soliloquy, F/M, Homage, Tribute, ending spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:14:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21588187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellarStylus/pseuds/StellarStylus
Summary: As he lies there, Agent K thinks back another replicant 30 years before who also had some profound words to say.
Relationships: K | Joi
Kudos: 12





	Tears in Snow

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Blade Runner or its sequel Blade Runner 2049; this is written purely for fun, not profit.  
> SPOILERS: Watch both movies first, as this takes place at the end of the second movie.

_Dedicated to the memory of Rutger Hauer (1944-2019)._

Once again, Officer K stepped out into the snow — but this time, Deckard was with him.

It was an eerie scene, with its own desolate beauty. Of course, it was only because of Man’s mishandling of the planet Earth that it was now snowing in California again — it probably hadn’t snowed naturally in this region since the end of the last Ice Age.

But K put that out of his mind as he helped Deckard brace himself to be reunited with his own long-lost child.

_“The best memories were hers.”_

Memories.

So precious.

So priceless.

So valuable.

Memories helped define a person, but there was so much more to a person than that.

Unlike electronic records or even human memories, some things within the human brain couldn’t be backed up.

Like the human soul.

They were talking in the car, and a topic came up. Deckard had been telling K about his final encounter with the Replicant known as Roy Baty, the Nexus-6 unit so desperate to avoid dying so soon that he’d tracked down his maker, hoping to extend his own lifespan.

Dekcard and Roy had engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and Roy might have actually won that fight... had time not run out for the Replicant.

K had read the report filed by Deckard all those years ago, thirty years ago back in 2019, but Deckard had softly recited the words anyway, right there in K’s aircar as they flew to the laboratory.

_**“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I’ve watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”** _

K had almost wished he could have been there to hear it, or at least hear a recording which hadn’t been wiped out in the Blackout of 2022. Deckard was a good storyteller, to be sure, but neither the police report from back then nor Deckard’s oral retelling right now, could have done it justice.

Still, K certainly appreciated the effort which Deckard had put into it.

With one last gesture of encouragement, Deckard went inside to see her.

Leaving K all by his lonesome.

That was fine. He could wait—

_And then he felt the pain in his side._

—or maybe not.

And now K could feel himself dying.

And yet, he was oddly fine with it. He’d done his job, he’d done his duty.

It was almost comfortable, lying here on the steps with the blanket of snow.

Still, he had just enough time to compose one last coherent thought — a moving death soliloquy for himself...

_**I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Corporate aircars on fire off the Sepulveda Sea Wall. I’ve watched tended beehives thrive in the ruins of Las Vegas, glowing like fireflies. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in snow. Time to go.** _

It was almost a pity that no one else was around to hear it.

Still, it was better than nothing at all.

Maybe he’d even reunite with his beloved Joi again, somewhere on the other side?

And so K let himself slip away...

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR’S NOTES: I’d been wanting to write this for about a year now, didn’t get to it sooner. But after the sad passing of Rutger Hauer earlier this year and the fact that we’re now in November 2019 as of writing this, I thought I’d pay tribute to the original Blade Runner movie, even if it meant using something from the recent sequel.


End file.
